Guaranteeing Medicare

In this Budget the Government is guaranteeing and strengthening Medicare so that all Australians can continue to access timely and affordable health care.

Medicare Guarantee Fund

The Government will establish the Medicare Guarantee Fund to secure the ongoing funding of the Medicare Benefits Schedule and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme into the future.

The Fund will be credited with revenue raised from the Medicare levy (excluding amounts to meet the Government’s commitment to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme) as well as a portion of personal income tax receipts sufficient to cover the estimated costs of essential health care provided under the MBS and PBS.

The credit to the Fund will be adjusted at every Budget update in line with forecast future growth in MBS and PBS expenditure over the forward estimates.

Strengthening Medicare

In this Budget, the Government will provide $1.0 billion to reintroduce indexation for certain items on the MBS. This will commence with General Practitioner (GP) bulk billing incentives from 1 July 2017, to ensure that GPs are incentivised to bulk bill children under the age of 16 and concession card holders.

From 1 July 2018, GP and specialist consultation items will be indexed, increasing the Government’s contribution to the cost of important health care services.

From 1 July 2019, specialist procedure and allied health items will be indexed and from 1 July 2020 certain diagnostic imaging items will be indexed for the first time since 2004.

In addition, the Government will maintain the bulk billing incentives for pathology and diagnostic imaging services, including for blood tests, x-rays and scans.

The Government is investing record funding for our public hospitals and will deliver an additional $2.8 billion in this Budget.